CSOG 2.0 is here: Tablet astronomy comes of age

Clear Skies Observing Guides are now available in an updated edition: CSOG 2.0, featuring a stunning, new, dark color scheme. Perfect for use on tablets, e-readers and (laptop) computers.

As paper is rapidly becoming obsolete in amateur astronomy, CSOG is the first digital publication to bring tablets to the telescope. Thousands and thousands of objects in great detail, sorted by constellation and object category. Constellation editions along with well-known catalogues. Truly All Sky. ALL carbon stars and deepsky objects in reach of telescopes up to 12" in aperture.
The 8-10" constellation edition itself contains all DSO's in Burnham's Celestial Handbook... and over 2000 (two thousand) more.

Up to date information, object synonyms, field descriptions and images that provide a "standard candle" for visual amateur astronomy. No tables containing only designations, numbers and abbreviations. CSOG will not leave astronomers in the dark.

CSOG V1 customers have received their free updates to CSOG 2.0.

Samples are available on the website. Should anyone desire to see additional samples and/or screenshots of specific objects, please ask!

In the mean time, work on the next edition is in progress. Below is a sneak peek of the next "Special" to be added to the CSOG family, available in a few months.

Attachment 999

Wishing everyone happy holidays and, of course, Clear Skies in 2014!


Victor

As a relatively early adopter of CSOG, I find the new look is both pleasing and practical: I think it improves overall contrast of the images. Victor's title, "Tablet astronomy comes of age," is apt, but perhaps a bit too narrow. "Paperless astronomy come of age" would be more accurate.

I have found the utility of of CSOG to be compelling enough to justify an iPad with more memory: it is like having instant access to all the best parts of DSS. As Santa delivered my new 64GB iPad Air yesterday, I was busy copying the 12" All Sky edition over to it yesterday. I found the perfect app for doing that: Readdle's "Documents," which also happens to be free. Downloaded documents can mirror the file hierarchy of Dropbox, supports a kind of bulk download, which is good because it is almost an even 1,000 files, taking up bit over 16GB. Accessing the individual PDFs is essentially identical to how one would do it on a laptop:

Attachment 1001Attachment 1002Attachment 1003

The amount of information provided with each image is a significant and very useful database that is searchable. I haven't found searching across all documents to be very useful, as the search criteria is minimal, but it does a good job searching within a selected document.

It is great having everything on the iPad, even if much of it will never get accessed. iPads with the Retina display allow you to zoom in quite in each image.

Perhaps a topic for another discussion is using CSOG on a laptop. I have indexed the entire CSOG with FoxTrot Pro, which enables nearly instant access to all the embedded data, along with the images. It is now integral to my planning workflow. Not only does this promote a paperless environment, a network connection isn't needed. It is a pretty large reference library of high utility.

I've been using my downloadable observing guides from my website on my netbook and tablet for years. I just invert it. I've done away with paper long time ago. :)

Inverting a tablet's colors helps a lot, but it is far from perfect. Whenever I see room for improvement, I get to work. Both professionally and in astronomy. This is how CSOG 2.0 came to be.

Simply inverting colors turns "very white" to "very black". The contrasting tones remain an eye strain. A dedicated color scheme takes that away, while improving contrast of the DSS image.
Below is a picture of a CSOG V1 guide on an iPad 2, colors inverted on the left. The same objects in a CSOG 2.0 guide on an iPad Air on the right. The colors on the iPad on the right are not inverted. The difference is obvious.

Attachment 1006

In closeup:

Attachment 1007 Attachment 1008

Both iPads are at full brightness. Of course, when used in the field, apply a red cover to the screen. Then dim to taste.

------------------------------

Meanwhile, compilation of the CSOG All Herschel edition is proceeding smoothly, with only two constellations left to complete. Once released, there will be another update to the complete family of CSOG guides. Free for all who previously purchased CSOG V1 or 2.0.

Right, that's why all of my guides have the DSS image already inverted when printed on white (black stars on white), so when inverted, it is already like your version 2.0 of your guides. I've done that for two reasons; save ink if printed on paper and making it invertible on a screen.

I've been using my inverted guides with no borders on my netbook under mag 7.0+ skies for several years. Despite my netbook with a very wide range of brightness, I still use two pieces of red plexiglass to cover my screen. Just perfect for those uber dark skies. I struggle when I have to turn my red light on to take notes. :)

http://faintfuzzies.com/ObservingAids.html
Scroll about halfway down.

I too use a double layer of red foil. One layer just isn't red enough, two layers make for a much deeper color. Also tried "red" vinyl; turned out to be more pink than red. Nowadays(nights) its red PVC and a small roll of transparent tape.
Back in 2008 when I started compiling my observing guides, not knowing how the project would get out of hand, tablets had yet to appear. Now, paper is history. It's just awesome to tuck your observing plan and everything you need under your arm.
For notetaking, I use a digital memorecorder. Saves lots of time when behind the eyepiece and allows for lots of information to be recorded quickly. Also, I have to make the most of every observing run in this cloudy part of the world. Telescope time is precious!

The latest addition to the Clear Skies Observing Guides family is now available: All Herschel objects.

Objects are sorted by constellation and object category, identical to the CSOG constellation editions. Of course, there are matching tourfiles and AstroPlanner planfiles. There is an index file listing all objects with their Herschel designations, and there are separate index files for the Herschel 400 and Herschel II lists.

Attachment 1058

Attachment 1059

A new edition calls for a new sample. The constellation of Gemini is positioned favorably this time of year. All Herschel objects for this constellation are added to the sample page, in four image orientation options, like all CSOG editions. Ready for use in the field. Just click to download, unzip, and transfer to your tablet. Visit the website for more samples, or click the links below to download directly (65MB):

• CSOG Gemini Herschel objects, images unmirrored (true)
• CSOG Gemini Herschel objects, images mirrored horizontally
• CSOG Gemini Herschel objects, images mirrored vertically
• CSOG Gemini Herschel objects, images mirrored horizontally and vertically

As this is a new edition, there is an introductory offer. For the remainder of this month, the Herschel edition will be available for the price of the Herschel 400 and Herschel II edition combined! Customers outside of the EU are of course exempt from VAT.

With the release of this new edition comes the first update to CSOG 2.0. Many guides received small tweaks and changes. More significant changes were made to the Herschel 400, Herschel II and 12" Constellation editions. These guides, tours and planfiles are marked as V2.0.1. An index file for all Herschel objects is added to the 12" Constellation editions.
Exisiting CSOG customers have received their new download links by e-mail as this is another free update.

The total number of objects in CSOG is now exactly 13700, counting combined objects (merging galaxies, Hickson groups, open clusters with nebulosity, etc.) as single ones.

Starting in February, "Objects of the Month" will be added to the samples page. Requests are welcome..!

As of today, 25 March, all CSOG prices are in US dollars: www.clearskies.eu/purchase
Customers outside of the European Union are exempt from VAT (sales tax).

In other news: work on CSOG 2.1 is in progress. The next update will be released alongside a new Arp edition. Publication is forecasted for the second half of the year. CSOG 2.1 will be another free update for all who previously purchased CSOG.